


if you can hold on, hold on

by xfilessage



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, F/F, POV Female Byleth, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Pre-Relationship, Title is from "All These Things That I've Done" by The Killers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 17:20:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20624714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xfilessage/pseuds/xfilessage
Summary: Each one of Byleth’s students had survived what had apparently been the longest five years of their lives.Including Lysithea.





	if you can hold on, hold on

Five years had passed in the blink of an eye, and Byleth was having trouble wrapping her head around it. The last things she could remember were pain, falling,  _ falling…  _ and then darkness, all of her senses numb except for the sound of Sothis’s voice. All of that had fit into a handful of heartbeats-- except apparently, it had been half a decade, and everything had changed.

It was all too much. Byleth had managed to squeeze away from Claude and the others in the thick of their reunion, and had made her way up to the old captain’s quarters. Five years, and it didn’t smell like Jeralt anymore, only dust and the cold wind from outside the broken window.

Changes. Big and small.

Leonie had grown out her hair. Ignatz was about a foot taller, with a deeper voice to match. Hilda seemed to hold herself with a new sense of responsibility. Claude’s eyes were sincere, but weary. They were scarred and splintered, but they were alive. Each one of Byleth’s students had survived what had apparently been the longest five years of their lives.

Including Lysithea.

From the way she had spoken about her condition in the past, it had seemed that Lysithea would be lucky to live until graduation. And now, five years later, there she was, coral eyes set on Byleth as the class had reunited. Byleth still needed a moment to study the changes in each of her students, because she hadn’t been able to tear her eyes away from Lysithea. Any one of the days since Byleth had gone missing could have been Lysithea’s last. Her body could have given out, devoured by the unnatural power that had been threaded through her, and Byleth never would have known.

Five years of fear, of mourning, of relief, all in a handful of heartbeats.

“So you’re alive after all,” said a voice from behind Byleth, rousing her from her thoughts.

Byleth recognized the voice before she turned around. “It seems that way.”

The corner of Lysithea’s mouth twitched in the barest edge of a smile. However, it didn’t reach her eyes. “I can’t believe that we… that we’re  _ both _ here, now, five years later.”

She’d been thinking about it too. Of course she had; it had been her reality for the past five years. What Byleth had felt in the past few minutes was what Lysithea had been struggling through for years now. “I’m sorry,” said Byleth.

The old Lysithea would have turned on her heel and told her she  _ should _ be sorry. However, the young woman standing in front of her now only nodded sagely. “I’m sorry too,” she replied. “I always  _ hoped  _ you were alive, but… this world isn’t fair.” She let a lock of stark white hair tangle around her finger. “To be honest, the thought that you were dead was the only thing that let me sleep at night. It meant you hadn’t just abandoned us.”

“And what do you think now?” asked Byleth.

The set of Lysithea’s jaw was resolute. “That you really did die five years ago, or at least walked parallel to it. Because if you had been alive and well all this time, you would never have dared to show your face here now.”

_ There  _ was the Lysithea she knew. Byleth smiled. “Are you saying I’m a ghost?” she teased.

Lysithea rolled her eyes. “It’s been five years, Professor. Let it go already.” But she was smiling now, her eyes as warm as the sunset they shared their colour with. “I missed you,” she admitted.

Although she’d been unconscious the whole time, somehow Byleth felt that she had missed her too. As if some part of her had been awake, knowing that Lysithea was somewhere far away, without her. She smiled back-- and all of a sudden, Lysithea’s eyes filled with tears.

“What… what’s wrong?” asked Byleth.

Lysithea’s thin shoulders started to tremble. “I had come to terms with dying, when I thought that there was no chance of seeing you again. But now… that I know you’re alive…”

The room felt colder. Just because Lysithea had survived the past five years didn’t mean that she would survive the week. Or even the night. 

Tears pricked at the corners of Byleth’s eyes, but she blinked them back, keeping her gaze level with Lysithea’s. To cry would be to give in. To cry would be to admit that there was no hope. Instead, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Lysithea, drawing her in close.

The mage was still at first, her small frame rigid. Then, all of a sudden, she was gripping the back of Byleth’s robes as if she was the only thing tethering her to the world. She shook under Byleth’s touch, her breaths sharp with each muffled sob.

“I’m not going anywhere,” said Byleth. “And neither are you. I’ll die before I let that happen.”

“I want to believe you,” murmured Lysithea, her voice thin between layers of fabric. “I really do, but…”

“Then believe me,” Byleth told her. “We’ll find a way. Together.”

With that, Lysithea looked up. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, but there was a newfound sense of peace in her expression. “Together,” she repeated, and smiled.

Byleth leaned forward and pressed her forehead to Lysithea’s. The mage was warm, soft, alive. Somehow, she had beaten the odds and survived the past five years. Tomorrow, Byleth would try to work out how to keep her alive. But for right now, the steady beat of Lysithea’s heart was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> FINALLY MY WRITER'S BLOCK ENDS...  
So yeah, FE3H is my new favourite FE game and possibly my new favourite video game too. Oh, and Lysithea is best girl.


End file.
